Clockwork

Funny how things work out.

Clockwork is a Pathfinder RPG Campaign, originally designed for Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 but migrated during planning phase to take advantage of Pathfinder’s outstanding changes. This campaign will involve the core players of the Eberron game “Free Enterprise,” to which a memorial is being constructed on this site, and like “Free Enterprise,” it will be played online, using common Internet resources such as IRC, Yahoo Groups, and this site to the extent that Obsidian Portal proves useful. The schedule will likely be that of “Free Enterprise,” with primary game night being Sunday evening, weekly.

Rules for the Game Master

Regarding the gameworld, little information will be available here initially, for a number of reasons which will become clear as the game commences. The rules set for the game will be Core Pathfinder, as described in the System Reference Documents and the first Pathfinder rulebook.

Rules for the Players

The player base for the game will consist of some players from Free Enterprises and possibly some new players brought in by invitation. Requirements are few: The player must have (or be able to acquire by commencement) a basic competence with the core d20 system, sufficient that he or she would be able, with help, to adjudicate a simple combat scenario. The player must be able to commit the time and energy on game night to remain attentive and participant and is advised to be willing to spend some attention on the game between primary sessions as well. Finally, the player must be able to present a compelling character, not only competently formed with respect to game mechanics but also possessed of a ready storyline. Specifically, the player must be able to present at commencement some idea of his or her character’s heroic destiny.

Rules for the World

Here is where information will remain less than forthcoming, for now. This game holds a few major surprises for its players upon commencement, some of which may or may not be welcome. Besides!—laying out all the details of a world, authoring maps and complex, historically rich descriptions, and presenting them ready at commencement, while gratifying to a dungeon-master and his ego, is not particularly realistic for the players, at least in a non-modern setting. Prior to modern times, people of the world did not know its nature or extent. The Earth was a vast unknown, and their maps were a rough guide as best, reflecting only an imprecise “sense” of major geographic handrails (coastlines and rivers) and landmarks (mountains, cities, etc.). For these reasons and others which will be revealed in time, this game’s designer prefers an approach more like that of strategy videogames, leaving the world map enshrouded in a cloak of mystery pending its exploration by the party of heroes.

For more information on the Game Master’s peculiar philosophies, visit www.sharplight.org. For more information about this game, as much as is available, proceed into the Wiki…